I keep forgetting to put a list of Nora's new "things" that she's been doing on here. So, here it goes:

She does a silly, fake laugh that's straight from the belly. I have no idea where she got that.

She says "cookie" quite clearly, and she tries to say lots of other things that I say to her lately.

She stood up on the changing table without using anything to pull herself up this morning. The changing table has a contoured pad on it, too. That was the first time I had seen her do that. Coincidentally, she turned and put her little naked butt in my face. So, I think that may have been her motivation.

She does actually take a couple of steps now. She refuses to take more than that, though.

She's a professional stair climber. She can also go back down the stairs with no problem.

She likes to close doors a lot. In fact, there are doors in this house that I can't close for the life of me when I want to, and she's able to close them. Someone explain that one to me.

She woke up again last night, but I have a feeling that she woke up because her fever broke. She's been having a low grade fever all week. I think it's because she's teething. She's also got a bit of a cold (and so do I).

She's been doing better at naps lately, thank goodness.

She loves the dog, and she's so gentle with him. She just recently started fussing when he licks her face. I was glad to see that because that means that she is, indeed, my kid. I wouldn't stand for that either.

When she sneezes, she likes to make a silly face and noise afterwards (as if to prolong it). That reminds me of my brother, Jeremy. It reminds me of when he used to sneeze and say, "BLESS ME!" at the same time.

She still barks when the dog barks.

She likes to chase the kitty while saying, "kitty."

She likes to shriek now and then, and it sounds really girly.

She's started warming up to Daddy. She reaches for him and wants him now, and I think he likes that. I don't mind it, either (especially in the morning when I want to go back to sleep).

She does a funny, "I'm going to cry," face at me a lot. She squints her little eyes and purses her lips. It's quite funny, and when I laugh at her, she always cracks a smile. I'm not sure where she gets this, either.

Here are some pics of the little rat from this morning. She was seriously close to the TV while watching Charlie and Lola this morning. I don't let her do that often, but I thought it was pretty cute. I think it's the cutest show in the whole world.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

This one is due September 2nd. So, I'm about 9 weeks right now. Nora will be 20 months old (almost two years, for those of us on the home team).

This summer is gonna be a hot one for this gal. I'm just going to try to remember how cold I was after Nora was born.

So far, I've been feeling about the same that I did when I was preggers with Nora. The only thing that might be different is I think I am less emotional. I say this because I didn't cry when I dropped my quesadilla maker or my glass. I'm down with that.

Today, I felt a little pukey, but I really can't complain. I didn't actually throw up or anything. I feel pretty lucky about that.

Nora's bein' a supercrank again, so I need to tend to her and get her to bed. Poor kid.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Good grief. I've been fairly busy around here. Last week, work was fairly stressful, but this week, it's lightening up a bit. Over the weekend, we went to visit the grandparents (well, Nora's grandparents). When we got home after church on Sunday, we were just wiped out. All three of us.

Nora's been napping well for me ever since we got back, actually. Today, she even took two naps (in fact, she's still asleep at the moment). I think she has a bit of a fever, though. So, that probably explains it. She was fairly cranky today, but she otherwise has mostly been sleeping. Poor kid.

I did manage to get over to yoga at church last night thanks to Kelly watching Nora for me. Willis was in Chicago all evening for work, and he didn't get back until about 11 p.m. last night. Next week, he'll be gone overnight from Monday to Tuesday for work, and this time, he'll be in Pittsburgh. Oi. It's going to be a busy couple of months for him at work. It might be a busy couple of months for me, too. Possibly.

I have been utterly freezing today. I'm not sure what's up with that. I have a few layers on, so one would think that'd help a bit. It's the same temperature in this place that it always is. So, I'm kind-of afraid that I may be coming down with something, too.

I know I came down with the clumsies this week. I broke my quesadilla maker on Sunday evening. I just dropped it on the floor (there was a cord-confusion mishap). The next day, I dropped my favorite drinking glass into the sink and broke that, too. It was quite the smashing streak. It's amazing: I didn't even get misty when I broke these things (and I've been known to get a little misty when I break stuff). I am either coming to terms with my clumsiness, or . . . well . . . crap. I have no idea what else it could be.

Here's, yet, another random side note. I absolutely love that T-Mobile commercial where the dad comes in and says, "Hey, gang," and then he says a bunch of stuff about a T-Mobile call plan so that they can call whoever they want. Then his wife goes, "like Vivian," and his son goes, "and Skinny Pete."

Then, the younger boy goes, "and you can call that lady at my soccer games that you always stare at."

The dad's face is hilarious at that moment (and then just seconds later, he goes on to deal with his daughter and the "no Dereks with moustaches clause"). It's the only commercial I've seen in awhile that makes me laugh every single time I watch it. It literally tickles me. Almost.

In other news, I do have some photos and a video from the weekend to share. Enjoy.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

I did end up going to yoga last night at my church (thanks to Willi). It actually was pretty neat. It definitely wasn't weird like I thought it could be. When we were all done, I was totally relaxed. I also learned some new poses that I hadn't seen before (I don't claim to be experienced with yoga at all, mind you). I think I'll be going to that again.

As I was leaving yoga last night, I busted a shoelace on my good winter shoes, and just after that, I busted a finger through my gloves. It was fantastic. Luckily, I was feeling good and warm, so it didn't phase me too badly at the time.

Nora definitely didn't nap in the afternoon for me yesterday, but today, she took a three-hour nap. It was glorious, and she couldn't have timed it any better. I had a load of stuff to do for work, and her napping really helped. She definitely went down with a fight, but she went down, at least. I hope this means she'll sleep through the night tonight ('cause she definitely didn't last night, either).

I still need to figure out a battery situation for my new camera. Isn't it weird seeing my posts photo and videoless?

My new pillow is fabulous! It's taking some slight getting used to, but I can already tell it's going to be wonderful. The only problem I had with it was that the stupid cat thought he should be sleeping on it with me, and after four times of shoving him off of it, I looked up to find an irritated cat (pupils fully dilated and jazzy to boot). So, obviously, the pillow is sweet. I may have to kill my cat now, though. That kind of crap cannot continue.

Willi and I are watching Melissa and Marian for awhile this evening while Kelly goes to class. So, I'd better get downstairs and get some dinner happening for us before they arrive.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Man. This kid has suddenly taken a turn for the mildly difficult. Since she turned one, she's been waking up in the night. Every single night, she's awakened at least once. Plus, she quit her morning nap (although, she did take one this morning, but I'll chalk that up to her being awake extra early). She hates taking naps in general now, too. So, I'm not sure what happened to my good sleeper. (She opted out of a nap this afternoon, unfortunately.)What's more, when she gets tired (which is often now since she's not sleeping as much), she likes to get into everything that's off limits. So, life is somewhat interesting for me right now. She's not even walking yet, and I'm just getting worn out by this kid! I still want to squish her constantly, but holy crap! I'm getting too tired to do it!Here are some photos of her climbing up onto the coffee table (which she's not allowed to do, by the way). I just had to capture her doing it because, honestly, she's getting somewhat defiant and testy with me about it. She's getting defiant and testy about many things, actually. I'm learning, however, that Nora finds my frustration hilarious. This is probably not good. Not good at all. (She is my kid, I think.)

She's all like, "What are you gonna do about it?"

Here are some more pics that I took yesterday.

Here are some cute videos, too.

My camera battery biffed last night. We thought my old camera battery would work in the new camera, but we were sadly mistaken. Kodak made the battery have some sort of weird key feature on it that keeps it from fitting into the new camera. It's really stupid, I think, because they're both Kodak cameras. I guess they just want people to dump money on batteries. So, I guess my photos and videos have to go on haitus until I can find a suitable battery replacement.

Nora keeps closing herself into the guest room and crying about it as I'm typing this post. I think I'm gonna have to pull her out of there for good and close it off since she can't seem to handle it being open.

*Time Elapse*

Now that I've closed her out of the guest room, she's all up in my business now. She's fairly needy when she doesn't get a nap in the afternoon. Oi.

Tonight, I'm going to attempt to go to a yoga class at my church while Willi watches a baby. I hope it's not too weird. I think it'll be cool, though. Whether or not I go depends on how easily and quickly Willis gets home in this weather. So, we'll see.

I got my new pillow today! I ordered a memory foam pillow from Overstock.com last week because my current pillow is weak. My awesome, king-sized, feather pillow (that I got from Jody and Ben when I was eight years old) finally bit it, like, four times before I left it sitting in the basement a few months ago. I need to probably just throw it out at this point. It's a sad story. However, I do have hope for this new pillow. It better not disappoint. The reviews were all good. The price wasn't bad, either.

I forgot to mention that Willis and I have begun watching episodes of House. We started watching it over vacation (we're Netflixing all the seasons). It's a pretty good show. Several friends had told us we should watch it (because they knew we'd like it), and they were right. Good stuff.

Okay. Nora's starting to climb on the coffee table again. I need to, like, go feed her or something.

Friday, January 16, 2009

I totally had a finished post here, and when I went to publish it, Xanga had the nerve to say to me, "You forgot to enter a new post."Duh, Xanga. I didn't. You just decided to delete it. Stupid face.Let me try to redo what I had already done. Gah. I've got to make it quick, too, 'cause I was originally in a hurry. (Why does stuff like this happen when I'm in a hurry?)We're sitting under about two feet of snow right now. I'm not even counting the piles of snow from snow plows and snow blowers. I was outside yesterday for a little while to do some shoveling on the front porch, the sidewalks, and the back porch, and to take out the trash. Before that, I hadn't been outside since Saturday. Isn't that amazing?I want to get out and get some photos of what it's looking like around here, but it's really cold out today. Plus, it's really hard to fenagle a chance to get outside with Nora getting into EVERYTHING. She'd have to be napping or something. I'll try to work it out during her nap time today, if all goes well. In the meantime, you'll have to check out my friend Kelly's blog to get an idea of what it's looking like up here.

Other than that bizness, I just have some photos and videos to share. I think these were all taken on Wednesday. (I'm a little behind on blogging/uploading because work got busy for me this week. I blame vacation.)

This is Nora "reading" and standing at the same time.

This is us trying to get Nora to walk between us. She wasn't feelin' it.

As you can see, Nora has fun with the doggy. So, that's good. She likes to chase the kitty whenever possible, too.

This morning, she started doing a hilarious dance. She sways side-to-side, free standing, mind you. Today, she added a little arm-flailing to that mix. It was pretty awesome. I tried to capture it on video, but she wasn't feelin' it (as usual—when I bust out the camera). I guess some things are just meant for me to see. I suppose that's not all bad. I'll keep tryin' to catch it, though.I need to get back to work. You kids have a good day. (Xanga, you'd better save it this time.)

Any time that he is home and watching TV, he's always flipping the remote controls and dropping them on the floor. It's some sort of fidget, tick, something that he does. He has to be flipping a remote while he's sitting there most of the time. It kind-of makes me crazy. I'm always yelling at him, "Holy crap, Willis! You're gonna break those remotes!"

He usually replies with an embarrassed, "Mmmyeah."

Well, it's not just a fidget issue now. He's, like, meant to destroy these remotes—even if he's not purposely messing with them. He'll be shuffling through blankets or pillows on the couch to grab the remotes, and he'll knock one on the floor in the process. One will be sitting out in the open on an end table, he'll reach for it, and he'll accelerate it to the floor. Last night, something happened that made me throw in the towel about this issue.

Willis went to lay down on the couch next to me while we were watching some Thursday night TV, and as he flopped down, his foot went up in the air and directly contacted the two remotes that were sitting on a TV table next to us. The remotes went soaring through the air, and they both gloriously crashed to the floor just moments later.

Typically, this would prompt me to shout, "Holy crap, Willis! You're going to destroy those remotes!"

Instead, I just laughed so hard that I cried.

It is clear. He will destroy the remotes. I just have to let go now, and I have to laugh at it because, holy crap, it's really stinking funny.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

I don't have a lot to share (that isn't about my kid) except for the fact that we're snow globin'. It's days like this one (and what we're about to have tomorrow) that make spring all the more sweet when it finally gets here.

Speakin' of sweet:

I tried to catch her "reading." She always stops when I start recording her.

This is Nora doing some serious stair climbing. She's become quite the expert at this, and I wish I could catch her when she's shrieking about it like she usually is.

Nora likes Spoon. I think that's pretty cool.

This kid has become a serious climber. She's definitely not afraid of heights, but for some reason, she can't seem to get the courage to take a couple of steps to Willis or me. Silly girl. Maybe she's afraid Hobbes will take her out when she starts to take steps, and that's actually a valid concern. He thinks our "baby voice" is for him. Every. Single. Time. So, I blame him for her not walking. (Kidding. Mostly.)

She is stinking hilarious, too. I don't know if she's like that on purpose or not, but I am legitimately laughing at her, like, most of the day.

She has begun the testing process, I think. She has started doing things and looking at me with a smirk. I will usually go grab her and try to distract her, and then she does it all over again. I think she loves it when I come to get her, so she keeps doing it. I'm going to have to get a little smarter, apparently.

Speaking of distraction, I cannot distract this kid from anything! If she wants to do something, she will remember that she is doing it, by golly. I can pull her away and show her the shiniest, funnest toy, and two seconds later, she's back on the path to destruction again (right back where she was). As I'm typing this, I have been repeatedly pulling her off of our coffee table. I just pulled her off, and she's on her way back up there again. I'm obviously going to have to change scenery for her in a minute. That's about all I can do! (I guess we know she doesn't have A.D.D.—she's rather focused.)

Sunday, January 11, 2009

It's hard to believe that a little less than 45 minutes from now (it's 9:45 p.m. as I am beginning to write this), Nora arrived just last year. A whole year has zipped right by, and it seems like it's only been about five minutes. Now, I have this sweet, squeakin', chipmunk-face-making, little person in my life. A lot can happen in a year. She is living proof of that.I just dug this up from the archives. Check this out. Oh! And don't forget this.I could go on for hours about how much I adore my little rascal, but instead of boring you to tears, I'll just show you some photos and videos from her special day.

She's a sweet kid. We get a pretty good kick out of her.Happy Birthday, Kiddo.